This article reviews the societal forces that have made homelessness the end result of racial exclusion and inner city isolation. It argues that significant societal change is necessary to reduce racial exclusion and prevent homelessness. The author proposes the following set of elements to begin the change to bring about reform: first, national leaders must declare that the plight of many inner city African-Americans has reached crisis proportions; second, a strong national leadership has to be willing to risk offending entrenched elites, such as lending institutions; and third, an agenda for change to address severe and persistent poverty must be developed and implemented (author).